Friday, March 17, 2017

Today we activated our travel passes then headed off to the glass mecca that is Murano. Everyone has heard of Murano glass but the tricky thing is getting your hands on genuine pieces. Every single shop on Murano sells glass; many of them just sell glass cheaply; most state that all the glass sold therein is genuine Murano glass; some say it is Murano glass handmade on the island; a handful have Murano accreditation.
A lot of the shop windows contain identical glass pieces.
Some shops are expensive.
Some are very cheap.
Some loudly proclaim No Chinese Glass.

sigh ... glass

I am still not sure how to buy Murano glass made on Murano ...

The glass museum, refurbished since our last visit was a treasure to view. The displays are beautifully spaced out and a feast for the glass lover's eyes. Historical pieces flow chronologically from Roman to modern, with educational videos on the various techniques exploited so brilliantly by the Murano artisans.

sailing up to the Rialto on our budget tour

After Murano, we made excellent use of our travel passes by sailing all the way around the southeastern end of Venice, past Arsenale and the shipyards, to the Biennale site where we disembarked. By uncanny accident we found ourselves at the every same cafe as we had collapsed at three years ago. Enter cake, hot chocolate and an aperol spritzer. No cat this time :(
Making even more use of the travel pass, we completed our Grand Canal voyage via ACTV vaporetto line #1, getting off at Casino and then walking home.
My ankle aches but my heart soars.
Already I want to come back to Venice!

plotting the next trip?

The Details

Venezia Unica for travel passes - buy them online in advance then swap the voucher for tickets on the day. Choose from the daily or single tickets, or splash out on the far less restrictive multi-day options. I noticed that there is also an ACTV smartphone app that allows you to buy and download tickets to your device. Haven't used it yet but noting for the future ...

Murano is easy to reach just check the ACTV routes and timetables. Check before boarding - a single word, Murano? is usually all that is needed. The vaporetto crews have been wonderful on both our trips.

DIY budget tour the Grand Canal courtesy of your travel pass. Line 1 zigzags from San Marco all the way through; line 2 takes a faster passage through. If you're lucky and the boat is not packed, try sitting at the front and pretending this is your private gondola.